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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Giving Up My Shoulds

It's "Give Up Your Shoulds Day"! And you are invited to be part of it! For one day, you are invited to give up a certain "should" that leads to stress, guilt, misery, or any sort of sadness. What a perfect day to give up some of those shoulds that are holding you and your business back!
I should be making more money.
I should get a "real" job.
I should do more prospecting calls.
I should do more advertising.
I should do more social media marketing.
I should publish a blog.
I should publish more articles.
I should attend more networking events
I should do more____
I should....

Many people starting a business think they "should" be doing this thing or that thing to be successful. When I started my business, I would sometimes work late at night or early in the morning. But I began to get criticism from some of my friends who would get emails or faxes from me at all hours of the day and night. They felt that if I was going to be taken seriously, then I "should" work 9 - 5 like most "normal" business people. I let them persuade me that this was true and tried to change my schedule. But I am a night owl by nature and forcing myself to change my natural rhythm caused stress and made me very unproductive and irritable. By giving up this "should" and working when I feel at my best and most creative, I am actually more efficient and productive - and much easier to get along with! Yes, it's true that I do have to be available during some portion of "normal" business hours to interact with clients and prospects. But much of my business is not restricted by time so why should I place this expectation on myself?

There are certain things necessary to be successful in business. You have to have a viable product or service. You have to promote yourself and your products or services. You have to earn the trust and respect of your customers. There are many ways to do these things. There is no one way that "should" work for everyone. You should do what feels right and works best for you.
And so today I invite you to give up your shoulds. Take a look at your business. Make a list of all the things you are doing because you should. Now review your list. Is there anything on the list that you are doing that is not effective? That causes you stress? That you are only doing just because you "should"? What would happen if you stopped doing it? If dire consequences would not result, I encourage to consider giving up this action. Try it just for today.

I "should" work longer today. But I'm not going to. It's a beautiful day and I am going to take Bob and Austin for a walk. What should will you give up today? I'd love to hear. Feel free to share in the comments.